Sunday, March 18, 2007

Few culinary experiences are more compelling than eating a thick slice of fresh-baked, warm bread that's been slathered with a slab of butter.

No, that's not right: no culinary experiences are more compelling than that.

That's why I've been exploiting its power for a couple of months now, and it's working.

My three children are all in their teens, and, as you might have heard, it's often hard for parents to stay in touch with teenagers.

Verbal communication with them is frequently problematic. They tend to take every question as a challenge and every assertion as dispositive evidence of their parents'

(a) cluelessness(b) judgemental nature(c) hypocrisy(d) all of the above.

But they just can't argue with fresh-baked bread. It's just too good. It's all good. It's completely good. It's mmmm good. It makes them happy. In fact, it makes them love you. They can't help it. It's just too good.

So I've been baking it on Sunday afternoons. Eight loaves, which last us through the week (it freezes well). They give me looks of gratitude on Sunday and are the envy of their classmates when they unpack their thick-sliced sandwiches at lunch the rest of the week.

Who'd a thought that sharing a little bread could be such a powerful experience?